The Scope and Definitions of Heritage: From Tangible to Intangible

Abstract

Abstract Since the adoption of the Venice Charter in 1964, there have been many conservation guidelines in the form of charters, recommendations and resolutions that have been introduced and adopted by international organisations such as UNESCO and ICOMOS. This article focuses on the scope and definition of heritage as promulgated by the various charters across the globe. The term 'historic monument' used in the Venice Charter 1964 was reinterpreted by ICOMOS in Citation1965 as 'monument' and 'site'; and by UNESCO in Citation1968 as 'cultural property' to include both movable and immovable. The different terminology between the UNESCO and ICOMOS was reconciled at the World Heritage Convention 1972. At national and regional levels the scope of heritage was broadened to include gardens, landscape and environment, and later reinterpreted and defined quite differently in Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and China. Although the scope of heritage, in general, is now agreed internationally to include 'tangible' and 'intangible' as well as 'environments', the finer terminology of 'heritage' has not been streamlined or standardised, and thus no uniformity exists between countries. Keywords: ChartersHeritageScopeDefinition Notes [1] Congress of Architects and Technicians of Historic Monuments (CATHM), the Venice Charter 1964. [2] ICOMOS, Constitutive Assembly, Citation1965. [3] UNESCO, 15th Session of the General Conference, Citation1968. [4] UNESCO, The Hague Convention, Citation1954. [5] UNESCO, the World Heritage Convention, Citation1972. [6] ICOMOS, ICOMOS Statutes, Citation1978. [7] UNESCO, Operational Guidelines, Citation1999. [8] Council of Europe, European Charter of the Architectural Heritage Citation1975. [9] ICOMOS Australia, the Burra Charter Citation1979. [10] Council of Europe, Amsterdam Declaration, Citation1975, 2. [11] ICOMOS, the Florence Charter Citation1982. [12] ICOMOS, the Washington Charter Citation1987. [13] UNESCO, 32nd Session of the General Conference, Citation2003. [14] ICOMOS Canada, Quebec Charter Citation1982. [15] ICOMOS New Zealand, New Zealand Charter Citation1992. [16] ICOMOS China, Principle for Conservation, Citation2000. [17] ASEAN, ASEAN Declaration, Citation2000.